Valve stem construction



VALVE STEM CONSTRUCTION Filed July 15, 1944 44 34'; g 42 lT j 50 l 1ILLUL 24 /a l: Ei

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Patented Apr. 18,` 1950 2,504,863 vALvia strain CONSTRUCTION Rollo.Monroeand John Hieronymus, Three Rivers, Mich.;i assignors to TheJohnson Cornoration,- Three E... Michigan ers, Mich-'Q a corporation ofApplication -111 1r`15.,1944, serai No. sans The present inventionrelates to improvements in valve stem constructions.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a sealed valve stemstructure and assembly characterized by its free rotatability underextreme service conditions.

Another object is to provide a valve stem assembly having an improvedseal.

A still further object resides' in providing an improved valve stemassembly in which a carbon graphite ring is employed to seal the stem inits support with means for resiliently urging the sealing surface of thevalve stem into engagement with the carbon graphite sealing ring.

These and other objects and advantages residing in the construction,arrangement and combination of parts will become more apparent from aconsideration of the follownig specification and annexed claim.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken on line I--I of Fig. 2,and

Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken 0n line II-II of Fig.1.

The principles of construction of the present invention have beenillustrated in connection with a valve I8 having a cast main bodyportion I2 with an inlet connection I4 and an outlet connection I6.Plates I8 and 2D close the upper and lower ends of the bore 22.

The plate I8 has a recess 24 in which the shaft 26 is received at itslower end. The upper end 28 of the shaft 26 is recessed at 3D andcarries a cross pin 32. The central portion 34 of the shaft 26 is ofreduced cross section having parallel sides 36 and 38. The molded carbongraphite sealing block 40 is floated on the support 42 through a pin 44.The support 42 is slotted at 46 to receive the reduced portion 34 of theshaft 26, being horizontally slidable relative thereto and constitut- Ling a driving connection between the shaft 26 and the support 42. Forresiliently urging the sealing block 40 against the wall of the bore 22which defines a seat surrounding the outlet 48, a spring 58 is insertedin the slot 46 and is ina position to `react against the reduced portion34.

The specific construction of the valve just de- 'scribed constitutes nopart of the present invention, being the subject matter of ourcopendingapplication Serial No. 545,028, ledJuly l5, 1944, now Patent No.2,422,796, issued June v24, 1947.

Our improved valve stern assembly,` .which may be employed for therotation of valvefparts other than that illustrated, consists of afshaftportion 52 extending through a bore 54 in the plate 20.

i. claim. (o1. garina The shaft 52 may be square to be received in asimilarly shaped hole 56 the handle 58. Shown integral with the shaft 52is a spherical segment 60 below which extends the driver portion 62which is forked at 64 to receive the drive pin 32.

The underside of the plate 20' is provided with a machined boss 66surrounding the bore 54. The seal of the shaft 52 is preferably in theform of a carbon graphite ring 68 having upper and lower surfacescomplementary with the surface of the boss 66 and the spherical segment60.

A coil spring 'I8 acting between the upper end of the shaft 25 and theunderside of the spherical segment 68 resiliently urges the valve stemassembly upwardly to effect the seal between the sealing ring 68 and thesurfaces associated therewith. The pin and slot connection defined bythe parts 32 and 64 permit relative axial movement of the Valve stem tocompensate for wear tilat may take place in the carbon graphite ring Itwill also be understood that fluid pressure within the Valve I8 will actin conjunction with the spring 1f! to bring the surfaces of the parts 60and 62 into sealing engagement with the corresponding complementarysurfaces of the sealing ring 68. It should be apparent that the valvestem construction herein described necessitates a minimum amount ofmachining in its construction. It will be further appreciated that evenunder extremely high pressures and temperatures very little effort willbe required to partially or completely rotate the shaft 52.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tocover by Letters Patent is:

In a valve construction, a hollow casing structure, said casingstructure comprising a side wall with a port opening and upper and loweropposed end walls, said upper end wall having a bore extendingtherethrough and said lower wall having a socket defined in its innersurface, a two-part shaft, said shaft comprising an upper portionrotatably mounted in said bore and a lower portion rotatably journalledin said socket, said shaft portions being in substantial axial alignmentand having opposed ends located within the casing interior, a cupportion at one said opposed shaft end, a cross pin in said cup, a forkat the other opposed Shaft end, said latter being sccketed within saidcup with its fork positioned over said cross pin, said cup providingall-round clearance with said forked shaft end to permit limitedtransverse movement of the upper shaft portion relatively to the lowershaft portion and said pin and fork connection permitting limited mittedto adjust itself in the plane of the inside relative axial movement ofthe thus jointed shaft surface of said upper casing end wall.

assembly to take place, a. valve member on said ROLLO O. MONROE. lowershaft portion in position to control the JOHN W. HIERONYMUS. opening andclosing of said casing port open- 5 ing by appropriate rotation of saidjointed shaft n REFERENCES CITED assembly, an enlargement O11 Said upperShaft The following references are of record in the portion having anupper spherical surface and le of this patent:

a lowershoulder surface, a, compression spring UNITED STATES PATENTSembraclng sa1d upper shaft portion and acting i0 against said shouldersurface, and a sealing ring Numb?? Name Date encircling said upper shaftportion and located 807,981 Whlttake' Dec- 19' 1905 between said upperspherical surface and the $540698 Mlrten May 21 1907 inside surface ofsaid upper casing end wall, said 1871072 Mluer Aug- 9 1932 sealing ringhaving a lower spherical surface re- 15 2150080 Pollok Mar- 7 1939 cessand said spring urging said upper spherical FOREIGN PATENTS surface intoengagement with said spherical surface recess, said sealing ring looselyproviding an Number Countf'ry, Date all-round clearance with respect tosaid upper 9952 Great Bnta'm of 1902

